SAC-A

SAC-A was the second satellite built by INVAP for the Argentine Space Agency (CONAE). It was a demonstration satellite, intended to test optical and energy systems, data transmission and ground control for future SAC platforms, SAC-C in particular.

It was placed in orbit by the Endeavour Space Shuttle on December 3, 1998, and exceeded its eight months useful life. It finally burned up in the atmosphere in October, 1999, leaving more than 10 months of experience in images and data, adjusting cameras and other control operations in coordination with CONAE Ground station Teófilo Tabanera, in the province of Cordoba Argentina.

SAC-A design and final integration lasted eight months and the mission total cost was 15 million USD. After all planned experiments were completed, CONAE used the satellite for two more months to teach telemetry and satellite control to high school students.

INVAP is a company devoted to the design and construction of complex technological systems, with more than 30 years of history in the domestic market and more than twenty in the international scene. Its mission is to develop state-of-the-art technology in different industrial, scientific and applied research fields, thus creating "technological packages" with high added value, to meet domestic requirements or to be exported to international markets.